


Heat

by SmokeyDogs_05



Series: A Family's Love (Gaara Week 2019) [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: All aboard for captain Gaara!, Alternate Universe - Pirate, But those characters don't have names, Captain Gaara, Gaara is a pirate!, Gen, Mention of Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28701156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmokeyDogs_05/pseuds/SmokeyDogs_05
Summary: Gaara and his crew face the desert. But it's not the heat that will kill them.
Series: A Family's Love (Gaara Week 2019) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103798
Kudos: 1





	Heat

"The heat isn't what kills you," The old man grinned and laughed as he pulled on the sail. His skin was browned and weathered with age, and his left eye had a scar scratched over it that reminded Gaara of another older man. That is the only similarity though since the old man before him is bald and losing teeth but is still strong enough to do his work on the ship. Gaara nodded once before looking out over the desert as the ship bobbed in the waves. Suna is only a few more moments away and he can't help the twang in his heart. Will he be welcome back with open arms or with hate and anger at his arrival? He turned away and looked up at the main mast.

"How much longer Kankuro?" He called up as his brother looked over from the bird-nest before skillfully climbing down the mast.

Kankuro oversaw lookout today, but normally he would be the one to make sure the ship was running. It was a big order when Gaara asked him to build his ship, but he had managed it. Kankuro even went as far as to basically turn the ship into a giant puppet in its essence, with different mechanisms and levers that allowed it to steer itself. Only he could work it though, but Gaara was fine with that.

"Just another hour and we'll hit the bay." Kankuro's face split with a grin and Gaara nodded.

"Crew ready yourselves for the desert!" He commanded as the other members of his boat flew away to grab the supplies they packed before the trip.

"Go get ready yourself Captain." Temari walked up, already dressed in her desert attire as her brothers look at her surprised.

"Giving orders, are we?" Kankuro smirked as Temari glared at him. Although Temari was the oldest of the three of them, she was only second-in-command, something Kankuro teased her about it endlessly.

"We'll both go." He said to Kankuro who looked at him thankfully when he noticed Temari was getting ready to pull the fan strapped against her back out. She muttered a curse under her breath as Kankuro quickly retreated to his quarters and Gaara tried not to smile.

* * *

The heat was restless on him and his crew as they finally drop anchor and set out for land. Gaara doesn't mind, and neither do his siblings as they march toward their home.

The heat never bothered them, and it wasn't the only killer in the desert.

The rest of the crew, however, is confused when Gaara is strict about crossing the desert with a careful haste, but they don't say anything. They trust their captain and it isn't until dusk that they finally stop.

"Make camp here." He instructed as he plopped down his bed roll before starting a perimeter. Temari and Kankuro follow suit as the crew mates look around.

"We could keep going. It's finally cool enough-."

"It's going to get colder. The desert is hot during the day yes, but it's not the heat that kills you. It drops to below freezing at night. Which is why we must hurry through the day. If we are lucky we'll make it to Suna this time tomorrow. Now drop and make camp." He said, and his voice changed at the last statement to a command as his crew-mates finally nod and follow by their captain's example. All except two men who do not believe their captain. Gaara watched them try to brave the desert at night. He tried to make them understand, had told them he had grown up in Suna but they didn't listen.

"It's been years since you've been here-."

"The desert doesn't change-."

"Yeah it does, i's like t'e sea only dry. Now you lot can stay. We're goin'."

Gaara made sure the rest of his crew and his siblings are ready for the cold, terrible, night. He checked over them and braved the temperature drop to keep first watch before switching with Kankuro. He protected while he could and, in the morning, when the bitter cold has faded to a much more bearable temperature does he rouse his crew for the continued trek.

They pass the bodies of the idiotic men on their way. Gaara doesn't bother burying them. The desert will do it over time, as it does everything. The crew-mates say silent prays and decide to listen more closely to their captain even as the older, soon to be toothless, member of them laughs.

"I told you it's not the heat that kills you."


End file.
